Rainy Days
by Vanadium Pentoxide
Summary: Two old friends meet in a tea shop in Amekagure, and get to spend a short, but unforgettable time together. Itachi x OC Sorry the summary is rubbish, please read and review, as this is a pilot for a story I am planning on writing.


As per usual in Amekagure, it was pouring it down with rain. Akasuki had taken shelter in a cosy tea shop, hoping, for the rain to let up. She tucked her long, cardinal red hair behind her ear, before picking up the steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of her, before cautiously taking a sip of it. Her slate grey eyes glanced up at the shop door every time a customer entered, as well as the clock that was hung on the wall next to the counter. A couple of seconds later, one of the waitress' walked over, carrying a plate of mitarashi dango, and placed it on the table next to the half empty cup. Akasuki smiled kindly at the young brunette and thanked her politely. She carefully picked up one of the sticks of dango, and then pulled one of the dango off with her teeth, chewing it slowly and enjoying the taste.  
A couple of minutes passed, and Akasuki had finished her dango and tea. Finally, the rain stopped, and although the sun was still hidden behind the clouds, the streets had suddenly come alive with people. She glanced at the clock again, subsequently sighing and reaching beneath the table to retrieve her bag.  
"I'm sorry that I'm late Akane-chan," a raven haired man greeted, his coal black eyes watching her as she leapt out of her seat.  
"Itachi-kun, you're late," Akasuki chided as she pulled her purse out of her bag, and left some money on the table, "I was about to give up on you turning up, and go while I had the chance to stay dry."  
Itachi smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry," he replied, "Kisame wanted to come along, as I only told him that I was going out for some dango, and I didn't think that you would be keen on meeting him. Shall we get going?"  
Akasuki nodded, and they both strolled out the tea shop and into the hustle and bustle of the street. Subconsciously, Akasuki stepped closer to Itachi as a pair of Amekagure ninja strode past, and followed him through the streets. They carried on until they reached the tallest building in the whole of Amekagure. Itachi fished around in his pockets until he found the key he was looking for, then opened the door silently. Akasuki quietly followed him inside, her heart beating loudly in her chest as she entered the Akatsuki base.  
"No one else is here at the moment," Itachi reassured, "The other members rarely stay here."  
"What about Kisame?" Akasuki questioned, "I thought that you always travelled around in pairs."  
"I believe he's gone to the hot springs, so I doubt that he will be back for quite some time." Itachi answered, and began to climb up the staircase.  
"Wait up!" Akasuki complained, jogging a little to catch up with Itachi. They climbed for several flights of stairs, before Itachi eventually led them down a corridor, and eventually opened a door leading into a bedroom.  
The room was basic but functional, with a king sized bed on the far side of the room, with a bedside table on either side. There was also a wardrobe, desk with a chair, as well as another door, which led to an en-suite. Most of the walls were cream, but one was painted crimson, while the flooring was wooden, and the bed covers were a mixture of black, white, cream and red. Itachi wandered over to the desk, and then pulled a scroll out of one of the drawers, before handing it to Akasuki.  
"Remember, this is anonymous, and no matter what, don't tell anyone but the elders how you got this information." Itachi commanded, placing his hand on Akasuki's shoulder softly.  
"I know Itachi-kun," Akasuki replied, blushing slightly at the contact, "You tell me the same thing every single time." She then proceeded to place the scroll into her pocket, and glanced around the room, avoiding eye contact with Itachi, but not wanting to step away.  
He pulled his hand away gently, "I think that it would be a good idea to get going. I'll walk with you to the border if you like."  
"That'd be really nice, if you could." Akasuki replied, smiling at the thought of spending more time with the elder Uchiha. She followed him out of the Akatsuki base, and back out into the street, though this time it was raining. Itachi grabbed two umbrellas from next to the door, and passed on to Akasuki, before closing the door. They opened their umbrellas almost simultaneously, and began to make their way back down the street.

They had almost made it back to the tea shop when Itachi spotted a team of Amekagure ninja racing down the street, seemingly towards them. Itachi dropped his umbrella grabbed Akasuki's hand and pulled her into an alleyway, almost dragging her for a second as he sprinted down the alley to get away from the ninjas as quickly as possible. Akasuki soon worked out the problem, also dropping her umbrella, and stuck to Itachi's side, letting him lead her through the complex maze of streets and alleys. Every so often, Akasuki would glance behind them, and although she didn't see any ninja's pursing them, she could feel their chakra signatures close by. Itachi could also feel their chakra signatures, but there was only two, which worried him, as he had seen at least four ninjas in the street before.

Fearing an ambush, Itachi activated his sharingan and squeezed Akasuki's hand, which he had forgotten that he was holding, wordlessly advising her to activate her ability too. She instantaneously got the hint, and her eyes turned crimson, enhancing her senses and allowing her to use her ability, shukuchi, if she needed to. A few short seconds later, Itachi sensed the chakra signatures of the two other ninjas. They were heading straight towards them. Itachi scanned the street for any possible escape routes, but could not find any. If they had been in any other village, they could have simply jumped up to the rooftops, but in Amekagure, its industrial nature meant that the buildings were far too tall to jump up onto. Although they could channel chakra into their feet and run up one of the buildings, Itachi decided against it, as it would make them an easy target, due to the fact that it would expose their backs to all four of the ninjas that were pursuing them.

"Use shukuchi now and get out of here," Itachi whispered to Akasuki.

She scowled at him and pulled her hand away from his. "I'm not defenceless Itachi. I **can**help you if you let me."

"Please Akane-chan, I need you to get that scroll back to Konoha." Itachi requested, reaching into his kunai pouch and drawing out a handful of kunai in preparation.

"Fine," Akasuki receded, "but I expect you to meet me at our spot before sundown, or I won't forgive you." Akasuki focused her chakra, and activated shukuchi, teleporting herself outside of Amekagure. She glanced back at the village, silently hoping that Itachi would be able to get away unscathed, then began to follow the path that led away from Amekagure, and back to Konoha.

Meanwhile, the Amekagure ninja had managed to surround Itachi. He threw the kunai in his hands, instantaneously killing two of the ninjas. He then turned to face the other two ninjas, drawing another two kunai out of his pouch. Both ninja attacked him simultaneously, one aiming a punch to his face, and the other aiming a kunai to his heart. He back flipped to get out of range, but the ninja armed with a kunai threw it at him. The kunai cut across his cheek, drawing blood. In retaliation, Itachi threw both the kunai at this man, both hitting their target in a text book kill.

Itachi's blood red eyes surveyed the last ninja as he reached into his kunai pouch again. He had expected the ninja to fight fiercely for their own life, and to try and get revenge for the death of their teammates, but they just dropped to their knees and wept. Sighing, Itachi withdrew his hand from his pouch without taking a kunai, and looked at the ninja. He was young, perhaps the same age as Sasuke, with chestnut brown hair and chocolate coloured eyes. Closing his eyes, Itachi deactivated his sharingan, and walked away, knowing that there was no way that the young, inexperienced and naive ninja would try to attack him.

An hour or so later, Akasuki reached a small, rather dilapidated house, which for many years had been used as a stopping place for ninjas, and more recently, a meeting place for Itachi and Akasuki. She slipped her shoes off next to the door, enjoying the reprieve from the relentless rain, and stepped inside. Padding across the floor, she pulled her bag off of her back, and peeled off her soaked jacket, leaving it lying across one of the kitchen counters. On another, she rested her bag, searching for a dry pair of clothes to change into. After getting changed, Akasuki started a fire in the fireplace, and left her clothes nearby to dry. Sighing to herself, she glanced at the clock, then picked up a book from the bookshelf, and curled up on the sofa to read.

It had been dark for quite some time when Itachi finally made it to the house. Silently, he walked in, smiling slightly when he noticed Akasuki curled up asleep on the sofa. He picked a cover from out of the cupboard, and gently placed it over her, taking the book out of her hand as well. Giving in to temptation for a second, Itachi leant down and kissed her forehead, before mastering his self control again and going into the bathroom to find some dry clothes and get changed for bed. He pulled a futon out of the cupboard, before laying it out next to the sofa, and falling into a light sleep.

The next morning, Itachi woke up first, quietly folding up the futon and placing it back in the cupboard he had taken it from the previous night. Returning to the bathroom, he washed and dressed, before heading into the kitchen to find some food. Unfortunately, all he could find in the cupboards was some stale and rather mouldy bread, so decided to sit down and read until Akasuki woke up.

About half an hour later, Akasuki woke up, and sat up, stretching like a cat, and looked around for Itachi. She smiled when she saw him sat in the chair next to the fire reading, then got up and retrieved the clothes she had left there last night. Like Itachi had done earlier, she washed and dressed in the bathroom, and by the time she was done, Itachi had returned the book he had been reading to the bookshelf.

"Is there anything to eat here?" Akasuki asked, rubbing her stomach as it growled. "I didn't really look last night as I was waiting for you to turn up before eating."

"Only mouldy bread," Itachi replied. "Did you bring any food with you?"

"I might have something, but I'm not sure," Akasuki grabbed her bad from the counter and rummaged through it, eventually pulling out two cups of instant ramen, and smiled sheepishly. "This is all I've got left."

"If you get some water out of the well, I'll cook." Itachi offered, and began to search around the cupboards for a kettle or pan to boil the water in. Akasuki left the ramen on the counter, then strolled outside to the well, and drew water out using the bucket, and dragged that back inside. She placed the bucket next to the ramen before retreating to the sofa so that she wouldn't be in Itachi's way. Itachi proceeded to pour the water into a pan, and left it on the hob to boil. Meanwhile, he found two bowls and some chopsticks, afterwards placing the ramen into them. By then, the water had boiled, so Itachi turned the hob off, and poured the water onto the ramen. About five minutes later, the ramen was cooked, and Akasuki picked up the bowls and chopsticks, handing a bowl to Itachi, before sitting next to him on the sofa, balancing the bowl on her legs, afterwards handing Itachi some chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu," they said in unison, before starting to eat. Itachi finished a few seconds before Akasuki, and waited patiently for her.

"Gochisosama deshita," Akasuki murmured, thanking Itachi after she finished, and took both the bowls into the kitchen. She poured the remaining water from the bucket into the sink, and used it to clean up the bowls, which Itachi took to dry and place back in the cupboard. Afterwards, she drained the sink, and took the bucket back out to the well. By the time she came back into the house, Itachi had picked up her bag, and slung it onto his back; he glanced at Akasuki for a second, before making his way out the door and down the path. Akasuki jogged a few strides to catch up with him, before walking side by side down with him down the path.

They walked for quite some time, before Akasuki decided to break the silence. "Ne, Itachi-kun, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Itachi replied, wondering what she wanted to know.

"Is there any particular reason why you held my hand yesterday?" Akasuki asked, avoiding eye contact and blushing.

For a long time, Itachi didn't answer, trying to find a way to put his feeling into words, and considering what may happen if he told her. Finally, he decided to answer, "Please, just forget what happened. I didn't mean to do it."

"What if I can't?" Akasuki yelled, glaring at Itachi. If she had her bag, she would have left there and then, but had to settle for marching off in front of him, so he couldn't see the tears that were threatening to fall. She heard Itachi sigh behind her, but ignored him completely.

"Akane-chan," Itachi started, reaching out towards Akasuki, and embracing her, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that, and I hoped that you wouldn't think too much into it... It's not that I don't care about you, but that it would be easier if I didn't."

Akasuki turned around and buried her face in his chest, tears silently flowing down her pale cheeks, then wrapped her arms around him. After a minute, Itachi pulled away slightly, and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. Leaning down, he rested his forehead on hers, watching as she closed her eyes and leant against him. Smiling, he gently placed his hand under her chin, and tilted her head up towards his. Her slate grey eyes fluttered open, looking at him questionably, though she didn't move an inch. Itachi smirked, and leant closer to her, until their lips were only millimetres apart. Akasuki scowled playfully at him, and tried to close the microscopic gap, but Itachi pulled back slightly. A second or two passed, before Itachi closed the gap, kissing her softly on her nose. Taking the opportunity, Akasuki slipped her hands into Itachi's hair, preventing him from moving away again, and innocently pressed her lips against his, blushing bright red. Itachi deepened the kiss as he pulled her closer to him.

Eventually, they both pulled away, smiling at each other. Itachi reached up and took Akasuki's hand away from his hair, entwining her fingers with his. "We better get going if we're going to leave the rain country today." Itachi stated.

"What do you mean 'if we're going to leave'?" Akasuki asked, frowning slightly.

"Well," Itachi answered, "I think I might just accompany you as far as I can go. Kisame won't miss me for a couple of days yet."

Akasuki smiled happily, and they both continued down the road, enjoying the short time that they had with each other.


End file.
